Decorative product and method for making the same



Feb. 18, 1936. J. FRANK 2,031,474

DECORATIVE PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed April 23, 1934 INVENTOR JOSEPH FRANK BY HIS ATTORNEY PatentedFeb. 18, 1936 DECORATIVE PRODUCT AND METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME Joseph Frank, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Gem- I loid Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 23,1934, Serial No. 721,924

Claims.

The invention relates in general to a new decorative product and to the method for making the same and specifically relates to a product composed largely, if not entirely, of cardboard or 5 equivalent material and utilized for making signs, advertising matter, post cards, jewelry, buttons, clasps, buckles, and other decorative products, particularly such products as employ sparkling decorative design.

. The primary object of the invention is to pro-- vide an improved form of sheet material which can be employed in the arts above outlined; which will be rugged; which will provide highly pleasing visual impressions; which will resemble more expensive material now on the market; which will be easy to manufacture; and which will incidentally feature economy in manufacturing costs.

With reference to the article aspect of the particular disclosure herein illustrated, another object of the invention is to provide a multiple layer cardboard structure which will tend to resist tearing strains; which will tend to defeat mutilation during the process of being manufactured and subsequently when in use, and which will provide a more artistic appearance than has characterized similar cheap cardboard articles now known.

With reference to the method aspect of the disclosure the invention features a simplified procedure of fabricating the parts; the avoidance of waste and the adaptability of the process to form any desired showing of design.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious from a consideration of the method features of the disclosure and from an inspection of the accompanying drawing and in part will be more fully set forth in the following particular description of one method of practicing the invention, and the invention also consists in certain new and novel modifications of the preferred method and other features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a fabricated multilayer decorative sheet showing a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through a part of the sheet shown in Fig. 1, taken on the line 2-4, with the parts highly magnified to illustrate the detail of the several layers but with no attempt to show them in their relative proportion in the matter of thickness.

and scintillating material or effects to form the In the drawing there is shown a basic sheet I II formed of cardboard and provided with a cut-out portion H having one or more openings l2 extending therethrough and said openings forming, or coacting to form, some particular design l3, such as the letters shown in Fig. 1 but the term design is intended more particularly to designate some fanciful figure. Due to its resemblance to a stencil, the sheet will hereinafter be referred to sometimes as a cut-out or stencil forming sheet. This sheet is formed preferably by means of cutting dies which in addition to forming the opening I2 through the cardboard incidentally form fillers for filler pieces l4 having, of course, the same configuration as the openings themselves but of that much less area or size as will permit the insertion with the filler pieces of the layer or layers hereinafter described. In actual practice it is found that the usual knife edge cutting dies will leave sufficient clearance to permit the subsequent reinsertion of the filler pieces l4 back in the openings from which they were originally cut, and at the same time accommodate in the opening or openings the additional layer or layers hereinafter described. Further, the basic sheet is covered with a front or exposed side l5 and a rear normally concealed side l6. In one commercial embodiment of the invention the front side I5 is faced with a layer ll of gold formed as a paper facing or impregnating coating, with the rear side l6 unfinished or finished in the event thatthe rear side is to be left exposed.

The next step in the process is to stretch across the rear side iii a layer [8 of material known in the trade as Gemloid Cloth.. This material is a very thin fabric, coated on its exposed side with scintillating material composed of facetted, flaked or other sparkling material, and in the instant case formed of flaked mica. Where it is desired to have the scintillating material exposed through the openings 12 forming the design, the cloth I8 is used alone, but in those cases where it is desired to provide a protecting coating to the scintillating material a sheet of transparent flexible celluloid or regenerated cellulose I9 is positioned between the cloth l8 and the rear face I 6 of the basic sheet. It is obviously within the scope of the disclosure to provide the sheet [9 of different colored tints in order to give different color effects and while the layer I 9 is disclosed in Fig. 2 as a one piece layer extending integrally across all parts of the design or designs, it is suggested that different colored tints may be used at diiferent places, or that different kinds of protective layers be used at different parts of the design to give the desired varigated effects. While there has been featured herein the use of Gemloid Cloth because its brilliancy and high degree of texture renders it particularly suitable for use in forming the design product herein featured, it isobviously within the scope of the disclosure to utilize in place of the cloth it other decorative effects and it is herein suggested that in place of the scintillating or sparkling effect a sheet of colored material contrasting with the'facing ll be used, or thin cardboard or paper coated with sparkling material, using different color dyes in the scintiliating materials, or the plastic material disclosed in the patent to Assael, Reissue No. 19,103, March 6, 1934, may be substituted for the cloth I8.

'The next step in the procedure is to position the tiller pieces I on the exposed side of the cloth or equivalent layer 3 in position opposite the openings from which they had been previously cut and in position so that they may be intruded back each into its respective opening. Then by applying pressure the filler pieces I are forced into their respective openings as far as desired. The filler pieces in this way act as male dies to distort the layers l8 and I9 from their original flatforms, to take the distorted or mold form shown in the finished article in Fig. 2. It is preferable for artistic reasons to bring the outer face 20 into position flush, or substantially flush, with the outer face of the finished article. The feature of bringing the design to the surface of the basic sheet tends to camouflage the fact that the construction is of the cut-out type. In this way the layers I8 and I9, or l8 or l9 alone where but one is used, are held clamped between -the outlining sides or perimeter 2| of the filler pieces 14 and the wall 22 outlining the openings in the cut-out portion. Instead of the protecting layer IS the outer face 20 or the entire layer l8 may be covered with a transparent lacquer spray.

The construction as thus far described is sufficient where the sheet is to be applied to the article or backing intended to be decorated thereby, but where the sheet is to be sold as such for use in the various arts it is preferably hacked to provide a finish to the rear face of the sheet and to assist in maintaining these parts in their fabricated position. Accordingly there is disclosed a cardboard back sheet 23 which to all intents and purposes is a flat sheet but in the exaggerated showing in Fig. 2 it is shown to have the raised portion 2! to compensate for the inwardly oil'settings of the filler pieces ll. However, as the parts are subjected to a strong pressing action in the process of forming the sheet, these projections 2d are not noticeable even if they exist at all. An adhesive 25 on the contacting side of the backing sheet glues the same to the rear side of the flller pieces l4 and to the portion of the cloth l8 which extends between the several openings thus securing the parts in position. The effect when viewed from the upper side as shown in Fig. 1 is that the sparkling material .20 carried by the layer I8 is visible through the colored transparent sheet l9 and gives a brilliant toned silver effect to the letters forming the design and in the particular form illustrated the silver letters contrast vividly with the gold background ll.

The sheet herein disclosed is usually manufactured in large units with duplications of the design formed in the entire sheet and these large sheets may be cut into desired sizes to fit the particular structure or surface for which the severed portions are intended. As the sheet possesses the flexibility of cardboard, it can be easily bent to flt non-flat surfaces and there is sufiicient pliability between the parts to avoid cracking or the separating of parts as the sheet is applied in 5 position. Using the cloth 18 as a single sheet provides a fabric reinforcement to the sheet as a whole and the fabric is particularly effective in tying together the different parts of the cut-out portion thus tending to distribute-strains and minimizing the possibility of the cardboard tearing in those portions which are structurally weakened by the presence of the cut-out opening. With the backing sheet in position all of the parts are effectively tied together in a way to eliminate possibility of slippage between the parts and the design is maintained intact.

While there has been shown, described and pointed out in the annexed claims, certain novelfeatures of the invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the product illustrated and in its manufacture may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A decorative product comprising three laminae consisting in superposed order of a backing sheet, a layer of scintillating material, and a stencil sheet, said stencil sheet having cut-out portions forming a design with the scintillating material extending across and projecting. into the opening forming the cut-out design and visible from the upper side of the stencil sheet, and fillers backing the portion of the scintillating material exposed through the opening and projecting into and thus filling in the balance of the opening, and said backing sheet secured to the underside of the fill-in pieces and to the underside of the layer of scintillating material.

2. A multi-layer decorative cardboard comprising a top layer of cardboard having cut-out portions forming a design, a layer of scintillating material backing the top layer and having... portions thereof exposed through the openings in the cut-out portion, fillers conforming substantially in outline to and positioned in the openings, backing the scintillating layer and tending to elevate the exposed portions of the same. through the openings, means for securing the fillers in place, and a protective transparent sheet covering the exposed portions of the scintillating sheet.

3. A decorative product consisting of a flexible stencil sheet including a cut-out portion provid-' ing a plurality of openings extending therethrough and coacting to form a complete design, a single sheet of flexible scintillating material extending across the several openings and across the spaces between the openings and visible through the openings from the exposed side of the stencil sheet, the part of the scintillating sheet exposed through the openings being substantially flush with the exposed side of the stern cil sheet, and a backing sheet for the scintillating sheet.

4. A decorative product consisting of a flexible stencil sheet including a cut-out portion providing a plurality of openings extending therethrough and a single sheet of flexible scintiilating material extending across the cut-out portion of the stencil sheet with its several openings secured to the portions of the. stencil sheet outlining the openings and visible therethrough from the'expcsed side of the stencil sheet.

Cir

5. A sheet of material comprising a basic sheet having a cut-out portion forming a design, a front side of the basic sheet having a certain color, a sheet of material having a different color exposed through the opening forming the design in the cut-out portion of the basic sheet, said sheet of different color having its exposed side substantially flush with the front side of the basic sheet, and said sheet of different color having a portion projecting outwardly from the rear side of the opening and extending laterally away from the cut-out portion, and means engaging said projecting portion for securing the sheet together.

6. A sheet of material comprising a basic sheet having a cut-out portion forming a design, a front side of the basic sheet having a certain color, a sheet of material having a different color exposed through the opening forming the design in the cut-out portion of the basic sheet, said sheet of different color having its exposed side substantially flush with the front side of the basic sheet, and a filler backing the sheet of different color and coacting therewith to fill completely the opening in the basic sheet and thus assist in securing the sheets together.

7. A sheet of material having the flexibility of cardboard comprising a basic card-board sheet having a cut-out portion forming a design, a front side of the basic sheet having a certain color, a sheet of material having a different color exposed through the opening forming the design in the cut-out portion of the basic sheet, a layer of transparent celluloid superposed on said sheet of different color and said sheet of different color having its exposed side substantially flush with the front side of the basic sheet and visible from the front side of the basic sheet through the celluloid layer.

8. A sheet of material comprising a cardboard sheet having a cut-out portion, a single layer of scintillating material backing the cut-out portion and extending integrally across the opening or openings in said portion, and filling means in said opening or openings for backing the portion or portions of the scintillating material exposed through the opening or openings.

9. A sheet of material composed substantially of cardboard and including a basic sheet of cardboard having a cut-out portion, a thin, flexible sheet of fabric material provided on one side with a layer of sparkling material visually contrasting with the front side of the basic sheet, secured to the rear side of and having portions of the sparkling material exposed through the cut-out openings in the basic sheet, the front side of the sheet of contrasting material at the cut-out portion being substantially flat.

10. A composite multiple layer sheet of semiflexible material including a basic layer having a cut-out portion forming a design, and means filling the opening or openings in the cut-out portion and acting to display the design to visual contrast to the exposed side of the basic layer.

11. In the art of forming a decorative article,

the method which consists in forming a cut-out opening in a basic sheet, forming a filler piece of the same contour and slightly smaller than the opening, placing a layer of flexible decorative material and a layer of flexible transparent material on one side of the basic sheet, with the transparent sheet next-to the basic sheet, locating the filler piece in engagement with the decorative layer and in registry with the opening, and then forcing the flller piece towards the opening thereby to force into the opening the portion of the decorative and transparent layers in advance of the flller piece.

12. In the art of forming a decorative article, the method which consists in forming a cut-out opening in a basic sheet, forming a filler piece of the same contour and slightly smaller than the opening, placing a layer of flexible decorative material on one side of the basic sheet, locating the filler piece in engagement with the decorative layer and in registry with the opening, and then forcing the filler piece towards the opening there by to force into the opening the portion of the decorative layer in advance of the flller piece.

13. In the art of forming a decorative article, the method which consists in forming a cut-out opening in a basic sheet, forming a flller piece of the same contour and slightly smaller than the opening, placing a layer of flexible decorative material on one side of the basic sheet, locating the filler piece in engagement with the decorative layer and in registry with the opening, and then forcing the filler piece towards the opening thereby to force into the opening the portion of the decorative layer in advance of the flller piece, and securing a.backing sheet to the decorative layer and to the filler piece to hold the parts together.

14. In the art of forming a decorative article, the method which consists in cutting a design from a basic .sheet of cardboard or the like to form an opening in the sheet having the form of the design and incidentally to provide a filler for the opening and of like form, locating a flexible sheet of decorative material on one side of the basic sheet and disposed to extend across the opening locating the filler on the side of the flexible sheet opposite the opening, and pressing the filler into the opening thereby to cause the flexible sheet of decorative material to be intruded into the opening with a portion thereof exposed through the opening.

15. In the art of forming a decorative sheet,

the method which consists in cutting a flller piece from a basic sheet of cardboard and thus forming an opening in the cardboard of some desired design, backing the cardboard with a one-piece sheet of highly flexible material and then pressing the flller piece back into the opening forcing the flexible material towards the front side of the basic sheet and binding the flexible material between the filler piece and the portion of the cardboard outlining the opening.

JOSEPH FRANK. 

